Learn how the mathematical mistake of exponential growth bias makes people underestimate the spread of COVID-19, how crocodiles have survived since the dinosaurs, and how puns activate both sides of the brain.

Learn about how rats might not have been all to blame for the bubonic plagues and why we’re more prone to mindlessly eat while we multitask.

Learn whether smiling can actually make you feel happier and why it took John Harrison, a working-class clockmaker, to figure out longitude.

Learn about how children led their own research project into what they really think of adults, how painting eyes on cow butts could help solve a wildlife conservation problem, and whether it’s a good idea to rinse out your recycling.

Learn about how that dark sense of humor can mean a higher IQ, the origin of the word “orange,” and how the arctic produces “zombie fires.”

Learn about how a phenomenon called the third-person effect makes us think we’re too smart for advertising to work on us, why scientists used violinists to study how humans sync in a complex network, and why you can relieve pain by holding hands!

Learn about how wildfires are powerful enough to create their own storms, how the invention of bags influenced human evolution, and how announcers with low voices can make products larger.

Learn about why you have tiny rocks in your ears; why the self-congruity effect of music says you may prefer music by artists who have a similar personality to you; and how chemotherapy began as a chemical weapon.

Learn about how culture plays a role in feeling sick; that time scientists measured all the light in the known universe; and what Jurassic Park got wrong about the Dilophosaurus, that venomous dinosaur with the frilly collar.

Learn about why some words are more memorable than others; how hair growth works; and how fish end up in landlocked lakes.

To celebrate Shark Week, learn about why people are afraid of sharks; how scientists discovered four new species of “walking” sharks (also called epaulette sharks); and how enhanced rock weathering might help us fight climate change with rocks.

Learn the surprising reason why religious people tend to have more children; why sea turtles are actually pretty clumsy navigators; and where astronomers found the center of our solar system (spoiler alert: it’s not the center of our sun).

Learn about why we remember things in the opposite order as we see them and how spiders use atmospheric electricity to balloon through the air. You’ll also learn who actually ate the first oyster from author Cody Cassidy.

Cody Cassidy is back to talk about how soap was invented. You’ll also learn about a bias that makes people believe poor people have thicker skin, and how good anxiety can help you get things done.

Learn how swapping bodies with our pals can alter the way we view ourselves, why California’s redwoods have been able to survive relentless wildfires, and the real reason there are colorful bumps on the sidewalk. (If this episode sounds familiar, congratulations! You got the episode that escaped a week ago. Oops! This one is cleaned up and ready for prime-time.)